This blog is my attempt to keep those of you who wish to be informed to be informed of my time in India.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Jittery in Mysore

Well, I am going a little stir crazy! We are spending the bulk of our time at the JSS guesthouse, writing away. The report is coming along. Hopefully we have the first draft of the main report finished by tomorrow. Spending so much time in the same building, same room, sitting in the same chair - a stark contrast to the last few months here. I guess we are just paying dues - at least until we go on one last vacation.

Well, looks like my plan to stay here for Christmas and see the north has not panned out. So as far as I know I will be back in Saint John at midnight on the 23rd - I am still awaiting the final confirmation from the travel agent back in Halifax. I have mixed feelings about it - I wanted to stay and see the drastically different northern towns, but it just didn't make sense in terms of time (too short) or money (too much). Ah, I take it as a sign that I should come back sometime.

My trips to the pool have been great, and quite entertaining. The young women (15-25ys) come with a member of their family, usually the mothers, who wait on the step. My sense is that they are chaperones, but maybe I am looking too much into it. Maybe not. : ). The swimsuits they wear here are pretty interesting - a fair comparison are those worn in the 1940's and 50's. Bloomers with ruffles, tops with sleeves on them, old-fashion bathing caps that button under the chin. Perhaps the clothes are a sign of the gender dynamic. No wonder the mothers glare at me - I am a bad influence with my speedo and therefore modern feminist ideas (wonder what the reaction would be to a bikini?). They are generally quite bad swimmers, but it is likely due to the weight of extensive bathing suits. They also swim both across the eight lanes and also the more standard lengthwise sticking to one lane. It seems so typically Indian - chaotic, a little inconvenient and inefficient, but everyone knows the system so it works out alright.